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Strike Twice was the catch phrase the London Lightning used to motivate themselves as they looked for their second National Basketball League of Canada championship.

But championship No. 2 had nothing to do with phrases or motivation or great strategy. It had to do with the desire even when things looked beyond reach.

The Lightning fought through a horrendous start to Game 4 and responded like champions, with determination and courage.

They defeated the Summerside Storm 87-80 Friday in front of 3,019 to capture their second NBL title and silence critics who believed they were a little past the boiling point. They won the best-of-five series 3-1.

“Hey, I ain’t old. I’m not old. I’m wise,” Tim Ellis shouted as the Lightning celebrated on the floor. “It’s all about willpower. I feel young. I’m not old.

“It would have been nice to win it at home but I’m not a gambling person when it comes to that. We wanted to win it tonight.”

Last year, the Lightning went up 2-0 on the Halifax Rainmen and had to come home to win a do-or-die Game 5. Ellis was part of that team.

After the first quarter Friday, when the Lightning trailed by as many as 21 points, it looked as if that scenario would repeat itself.

“But we never gave up,” Ellis said. “I told them, ‘Look, you don’t have to give up. If you give up and lay down this year, we’re going to go back and we might lose. Leave it all here.’ I told them do what you need to do and cherish this moment.”

No one would have predicted the final five on the floor who swung the game in the Lightning’s favour.

Ellis played all 48 minutes and was sensational. Adrian Moss, Morgan Lewis, Marvin Phillips and Elvin Mims were the other four. Mims only made it on late after Jeremy Williams fouled out. Williams gave the Lightning a huge game.

But Moss, the rookie, and Lewis, the former Oshawa Power player, made the difference down the stretch. Moss hit two massive three-pointers. Lewis made some difficult shots with the clock winding down.

When they couldn’t do it, Phillips hit the big shots and free throws. He was selected most valuable player of the final.

“I don’t even know what to say,” an ecstatic Moss said. “Words can’t express what I’m feeling. Being a young guy, the way the coach had faith in me leaving me out there, I’m glad I came through for him.”

The game won’t be mistaken as a classic. Both teams played some horrible basketball, but the atmosphere and intensity were ratcheted up to the classic level.

The Storm gave the Lightning all they could handle. They lost Josiah Turner in the second quarter with back spasms. But in the end it was about making the big play and the Lightning made more of them.

“We expected it to be a little ugly. Both teams wanted it so badly,” Storm coach Joe Salerno said. “London made the shots again. Adrian Moss and Morgan Lewis down the stretch made some shots late in shot clocks.”

As the final 30 seconds clicked down and the Lightning stretched their lead, Lightning coach Micheal Ray Richardson started his little dance down the sideline as the players on the bench, hugged and high-fived each other.

“We took their best blow but they couldn’t take ours,” Richardson said. “That’s the bottom line. They were warriors. The game is not won in the first quarter it’s won in the fourth quarter.”

Ellis, Richardson and owner Vito Frijia gave the championship equal billing. For Richardson it was his fifth minor-league basketball title.

“The second one is just as special as the first,” Frijia said. “It would have been special to win in front of our home fans. But a win is a win and a championship is a championship. I can’t believe how my guys came back.”

Richardson had one more thing to say before he left for the dressing room.

“Both the first two were equally special,” he said. “No. 3 is going to be even better.”